(moment of silence) Thank you, soldiers.

• The Role of Get Rich Quick Merchants: Complete with fab New Yorker cartoon.
• Best Entrepreneur Books That You Never Expected
• Useful Tools: Straight out reviews of web apps and tools without the editorial or anything else.
• How Freelancers Might Save Publishing
• Why People Don’t Follow Back on Twitter: Are you breaking these Twitter Commandments? [Disclosure: I wrote it]

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Awkward Family Photos: No ‘splanation needed.
• Wireless Keyboard Wall Graphics: Ah, geek art.
• Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest: Ah, dizzy art.
• Research Paper Glossary
• Top 10 Movie Misquotes
• Incredible photo of the sun… not just the sun…

• Manta: Database with the profiles of over 40 million companies.
• Best Internet Marketing Posts of 2008 [Link: Jason Falls]: Amazing list.
• How to Write Fast.
• Minimal Web Sites for December.
• 80 Best Lifehacks of 2008.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Notebook: Amazing animation. Amazing patience.
• Jane Austen Facebook: Humorous phony Facebook page with her characters.
• Tilt Shift Photograph: Are those real or toys?
• Fail Blog: Fail moments in pictures.
• Adtunes: Find music in commercials, soundtracks and more.
• blippr: twitter of reviews. Reviews in 160 characters or less.

Suddenly, Taking My Own Picture is hot. Hmm… I remember a couple of little sites called The Mirror Project [no more] and Picture Yourself. But I agree with the article that today’s kids are less self-conscious about getting their pictures taken. All my friends (me included) in their 30s and 40s, often say, “Oh, no! Don’t take my picture!”

Part of it is that I don’t want to look bad in the picture and part of it is that in-built thing that a person shouldn’t show-off. However, I think having a nice photo on a Web site, especially a business one, is important because it connects you with your visitors and clients — puts a face behind the company.

On the other hand, I remember looking for mother / daughter pictures and struggling to find any. No matter what I think of myself… it’s important to have a visual history of ourselves with the important people in our lives.

From the sponsor: Learn something about couture and read clothes reviews at Couture Clothing.

Someone must’ve spiked my coffee. I found two hats and decided to wear ‘em both. Mickey Mouse on Rx, no?

I do a holiday letter every year and send them to friends so they know what’s happening with my family and I ask them about theirs. Though addressing the envelopes and such is a pain, I enjoy doing the letter and adding a wallet-sized photo of my kids to show them off. To print nine wallets on a page, you don’t have to copy the picture eight times in Word and then print it. Here’s an easier way.

In most cases, you can double-click on your photo file and it opens Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. If not, right-click on the photo file > select Open With > select Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. Before you start the process, ensure your printer is on and the computer can see it.

Now you’re ready to print. For best results, use photo paper in the photo printer. Photo printers have gotten cheap. I got mine for about $100 and it is great. Be sure to factor in the cost of replacing the ink when choosing a printer.

Click on the Print icon in the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer to start the photo printing wizard as shown in the picture.

Click Next > Find and select the picture you wish to print. You can even select multiple pictures and it will put an equal number of copies on the page. The photo wizard appears. Click Next > Select the printer > Select Printing Preferences and choose the right media type (I used Photo Paper Pro) > Click Next. Here you select what size and how many copies you wish to print.

If your picture is a wallet-sized picture, don’t choose anything bigger than wallet size because it won’t be as good quality. In other words, pick the same size or smaller rather than larger. If your picture is a 4″ x 6″ photo, you can print 4″ x 6″ copies and wallet-sized copies , but printing 8″ x 10″ won’t look good. I selected Wallet Prints and entered 9 for the number of times to use the picture. This will print nine wallet-sized pictures on one page. Click Next and it prints. Click Finish or Back if you want to print another page.

I don’t like to use pens to write the kids’ names and the date of the photo because it smears and leaves ink on other things. I know there are specialty pens for photos, but I prefer to use a label maker.

Thank goodness for the digital camera. People like me with a lousy eye can take hundreds of photos and experiment until our eyes fall out and get a couple of gems. Despite my left-handedness, I don’t have a natural eye for photography, art, or anything of the sort. It all went into writing.

With three kids, photos are important to me as I want to capture many times of their lives so we may reflect on them with a visual aid. A good photo does make a difference. Again, with three kids, who has time to read a book or take a class to become one with a camera? The Digital Photography Pocket Guide fills that need.

It has three simple chapters with quick reference tables in the back of the book. It’s small enough to fit into your camera bag, laptop case, briefcase, suitcase, or jacket pocket. The chapters address What is it? What do I do? and How do I? questions.

What is it? covers the basic, intermediate, and advanced features found on digital cameras. It’s the shortest chapter as once you get familiar with the features, you won’t need the chapter anymore and you still have roughly 85 pages of material to support you when you’re out there trying to capture the world you see.

Once you’ve conquered the buttons and figured out what most of the symbols and modes mean, you’re ready to dig deeper into the features and gain control of the camera with answers to your what does it do? types of questions relating to exposure and Flash compensation, white balance, ISO speed, and resolution.

The last chapter is more free flowing as you and the camera have become one. Get tips on taking outdoor and group shots including sporting events where players are moving fast. Capture kids, travel spots, and wedding memories with class. As kids grow up, you may not return to the same places, and weddings happen only once (we would hope, unless it’s a renewal of vows).
Adding this book to your camera tool bag is a step forward to better pictures and a better understanding of those fancy photography terms – which aren’t a big deal after you read author Derrick Story’s simple and clear explanations.

VITAL STATISTICS:
TITLE: Digital Photography Pocket Guide, 2nd ed.
AUTHOR: Derrick Story
PUBLISHER: O’Reilly & Associates
PUBLICATION DATE: December 2003
ISBN: 0596006276
FORMAT: Paperback
PAGES: 160
PRICE: US$14.95

My five-year-old finds the old camera with batteries still in it, but no film. He flashes away at everything in the house making us all blind. I plan to get him and his older sister a digital camera with a memory card, so they can take as many pictures as they want and nothing is wasted. Bad photos don’t die, they just get deleted and don’t cost a dime except they use “battery energy.”

This book from the O’Reilly hack series differs from the other in that it has color images. Since there are colored images, the headers are blue instead of traditional black and that’s why the book costs a tad more than the other Hacks books. The landscape photos are spectacular, so you get a little bit of art along with instruction in the book.

Straight lines and I don’t get along. The only way for me to draw one is to have a ruler, but it can still be slanted unless I do other precise measuring to ensure it’s straight from end to end. The first series of hacks covers tripods, travel-sized to one made for a bike. As expected, learn how to capture magic with flash and take professional portraits with a two flash-setup.

The hacks aren’t just hardware-related. Receive tips on taking daylight and nighttime photos with and dealing with kids, whiteboards, passport photos, panoramas, and other objects. (Kids aren’t objects, mind you). Almost 100 pages cover using the computer and software like Photoshop to manipulate images.

A chapter covers camera phones, providing creative ideas for their use. The chapter is brief, so those without an interest or a camera phone won’t feel like a few bucks have been wasted. The next time you’re bored, go to the projects section near the end of the book for ideas on what to do with photos. Such projects are guaranteed to keep you busy for hours and having fun in the process; maybe with a little frustration thrown in as what good project ever works perfectly?

Who will benefit from the book? Those who want to learn the things the pros do without spending time experimenting. Those who aren’t afraid to experiment or try new techniques. Those who want to make a camera do things without buying expensive equipment like professionals use. Traditional photographers making the move to digital will benefit. The group that won’t benefit are the folks who use a camera on vacation or on special occasions and snap at everything in sight without a worry about how subject is lined up.

VITAL STATISTICS:
TITLE: Digital Photography Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips and Tools
AUTHOR: Derrick Story
PUBLISHER: O’Reilly & Associates
PUBLICATION DATE: May 2004
ISBN: 0596006667
FORMAT: Paperback
PAGES: 332
PRICE: US$29.95

On Valentine’s Day 2004, we woke up to a white wonderland. Big flakes came down, kids every where built real snow people (don’t want to be accused of prejudiced against snow women).

Evolution of a Backyard takes you on a journey from the hillside to a mini-lake.

I returned to Washington, DC in April 2002 as part of a leadership program’s trip to the hill. I never thought I’d call any other place outside of Texas "home," but Washington, DC qualifies since it’s the only other place I’ve lived outside the Lone Star State.